This Christmas, one of my sons gave me a new, very old cookbook.
It was a very welcome gift for several reasons. First, I love books! They are the best gift I could hope to receive because they are entertaining and enlightening, giving me many pleasurable hours while teaching me things I don't know. (and learning new things brings me huge joy.)
Second, I love anything that puts history and the past into focus. I can often use tidbits I read in books such as these in my own books, making my writing more true to the spirit of the age.
The Art of Cookery was a landmark book. Published in 1747, it
In addition to traditional dishes, The Art of Cookery introduced new ones like curry and piccalilli, making it a key text for understanding the changing tastes of the 18th-century as Great Britain became a world power and colonialized distant lands.
Despite its origins in England, the cookbook remained popular in America. A New York memoir from the 1840s declared that "We had emancipated ourselves from the sceptre of King George, but that of Hannah Glasse was extended without challenge over our fire-sides and dinner-tables, with a sway far more imperative and absolute". The first American edition of The Art of Cookery, published in 1805, included two recipes for "Indian pudding" as well as "Several New Receipts adapted to the American Mode of Cooking", such as "Pumpkin Pie", "Cranberry Tarts" and "Maple Sugar". George Washington and Thomas Jefferson owned copies, and while he was in France between 1776 and 1785, Benjamin Franklin, hungry for good English/American cooking, translated some of the recipes into French.
The first edition of the book was published by Glasse herself, funded by subscription, and sold, to non-subscribers, at Mrs. Ashburn's China Shop. At least 40 editions followed. Despite its popularity, no one was sure who authored this book for quite a while. The book did not reveal its authorship, except with the signature ‘By a Lady’. Even that attribution was questioned. Many people, including Samuel Johnson, could not believe that a woman could write a book, even a cookbook.
Even to those who accepted that the author could be a female, Hannah Glasse was an unlikely candidate. Born on March 28, 1708, in St Andrews, Holborn, London, she was the illegitimate of a landed, though not noble man named Isaac Allgood. She grew up in Allgood’s home at Simonburn near the Northumbrian town of Hexham. Despite of being an unwelcome presence in her father’s home, she witnessed good living and gained a taste for good food. When she was 16, her father and his wife died, leaving her alone and without support. She married a soldier of fortune named John Glasse, with whom she had 10 children. She wrote The Art of Cookery to help raise money to feed her family.
The subtitle of The Art of Cookery is Made Plain and Easy. Glasse explains in her note "To the Reader" that she has written simply, "for my Intention is to instruct the lower Sort." Either even the lower sort was more literate than I am, or cooking and its vocabulary have changed much in 300 years, for I found myself confounded as I read through this book's pages. Consider her directions for making a trifle, and English dessert that remains popular today:
Even to those who accepted that the author could be a female, Hannah Glasse was an unlikely candidate. Born on March 28, 1708, in St Andrews, Holborn, London, she was the illegitimate of a landed, though not noble man named Isaac Allgood. She grew up in Allgood’s home at Simonburn near the Northumbrian town of Hexham. Despite of being an unwelcome presence in her father’s home, she witnessed good living and gained a taste for good food. When she was 16, her father and his wife died, leaving her alone and without support. She married a soldier of fortune named John Glasse, with whom she had 10 children. She wrote The Art of Cookery to help raise money to feed her family.
The subtitle of The Art of Cookery is Made Plain and Easy. Glasse explains in her note "To the Reader" that she has written simply, "for my Intention is to instruct the lower Sort." Either even the lower sort was more literate than I am, or cooking and its vocabulary have changed much in 300 years, for I found myself confounded as I read through this book's pages. Consider her directions for making a trifle, and English dessert that remains popular today:
COVER the bottom of your dish or bowl with Naples biscuits broke in pieces, mackeroons broke in halves, and ratafia cakes. Just wet them all through with sack, then make a good boiled custard not too thick, and when cold pour it over it, then put a syllabub over that. You may garnish it with ratafia cakes, currant jelly, and flowers.
Naples biscuits? Ratafia cakes? Sack? And making a good boiled custard? All this is beyond me.
Luckily, we have Jon Townsend, a living historian, YouTuber, and the manager of Jas. Townsend & Son Inc., a company founded in 1973 by his father, James. The company sells 18th- and 19th-century clothing, tools, and, most notably, food items for reenactors, and Jon hosts a popular YouTube channel named Townsends Journal. It features historical cooking, recipes, and insights into 18th-century daily life and has frequently discussed Glasse's recipes.
The Art of Cookery made Glasse a very wealthy woman. Her success, alas, was not to last. She declared bankrupt and was sent to debtors’ prison. Before she was incarcerated, she sold the copyright of The Art of Cooking. After she was released, Glasse published two more books: The Servants’ Directory and The Compleat Confectioner. Neither attained the popularity of her first book. Hannah Glasse died in 1770 at the age of 62, but her book keeps her memory alive.
No comments:
Post a Comment